A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is often synonymous with the city's "financial district". Geographically, it often coincides with the "city centre" or "downtown", but the two concepts are separate: many cities have a central business district located away from its commercial or cultural city centre or downtown.

The shape and type of a CBD almost always closely reflect the city's history. Cities with strong preservation laws and maximum building height restrictions to retain the character of the historic and cultural core will have a CBD quite a distance from the center of the city. This is quite common for European cities such as Paris or Vienna. In cities in the New World that grew quickly after the invention of mechanized modes such as road or rail transport, a single central area or downtown will often contain most of the region's tallest buildings and act both as the CBD and the commercial and cultural city centre. Increasing urbanization in the 21st century have developed megacities, particularly in Asia, that will often have multiple CBDs scattered across the urban area. It has been said that downtowns (as understood in North America) are therefore conceptually distinct from both CBDs and city centers.[1] No two CBDs look alike in terms of their spatial shape, however certain geometric patterns in these areas are recurring throughout many cities due to the nature of centralized commercial and industrial activities.[2]

In Australia the acronym CBD is used very commonly to refer to major city centres.[3] It is used in particular to refer to the skyscraper districts in state capital cities such as Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. Sydney is currently Australia's largest CBD with Melbourne second and Brisbane third when judged by number of total buildings.

Melbourne, however, features the most skyscrapers of any Australian city at 36.[4] This is more skyscrapers than Beijing, London or Moscow. Melbourne is also fast growing to overtake Sydney as Australias largest CBD.[5]

In China terms "city center" (Chinese: 市中心) are used but a different commercial district outside of the historic core typically called a "CBD" (商务中心区) or "Financial District" (金融贸易区) may exist. Large Chinese cities typically have multiple CBDs spread throughout the urban area. Cities traditionally being major cultural centers with many historic structures in the core such as Beijing, Suzhou or Xi'an will have the greenfield CBDs built adjacent to the urban core, similar to European cities. While other cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuhan the city center will typically house a number of CBDs in addition to greenfield CBDs built in the periphery.

In Germany, the terms Innenstadt and Stadtzentrum may be used to describe the central business district. Both terms can be literally translated to mean "inner city" and "city centre". Some of the larger cities have more than one central business district, like Berlin, which has three.

Due to Berlin's history of division during the Cold War, the city contains central business districts both in West (Kurfürstendamm) and East Berlin (Alexanderplatz), as well as a newly-built business centre near Potsdamer Platz. The city's historic centre — the location of the Reichstag building, as well as the Brandenburg gate and most federal ministries — was largely abandoned when the Berlin Wall cut through the area. Only after the reunification with the redevelopment of Potsdamer Platz, and the construction of numerous shopping centres, government ministries, embassies, office buildings and entertainment venues, was the area revived.

In Frankfurt, there is a business district which is in the geographical centre of the city and it is called the Bankenviertel.

In Düsseldorf, there is a business district which is located around the famous High-Street Königsallee with banks, shops and offices.[6]

In Pakistan, a central business district or a large, concentrated urban setting within a settlement is called a shehar. Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and the country's economic hub; the I. I. Chundrigar Road of the city, often called the "Wall Street of Pakistan," acts as Karachi's main financial district and is essentially a center of economic and industrial activity. Shara-e-Faisal in Karachi is also one of the most important business districts of Pakistan.

In Peru the central business district is San Isidro, in Lima, which hosts the majority of Peru's financial industry headquarters.[10] Although still a largely residential district, the commercial and business activity located in or in the vicinity of the area defined by avenues Camino Real, Javier Prado Este, República de Panamá and Aramburú is highly regarded as Peru's financial and corporate heart.[11][12] It has a permanent population of around 63,000 inhabitants[13] and, during weekday business hours, a floating population that exceeds 700,000 daily commuters from other districts of Lima.[14]San Isidro is served by three stations of El Metropolitano, Lima's bus rapid transit system: Estación Javier Prado, Estación Canaval y Moreyra (with over 16,000 daily passengers)[15][16] and Estación Aramburú.

Since the late 2000s (decade) the southeastern district of Surco[17] has experienced a significant increase in upscale corporate developments in the area comprised by avenues Manuel Holguín, El Derby, El Polo and La Encalada due to lower restrictions to grant construction licences and proximity to residential middle and upper class districts and is set to become, after traditional San Isidro and Miraflores, the new corporate center of Lima.[18]

The Downtown Core and the Singapore River Planning Area as viewed from the eastern bank of the Singapore River, with the CBD located on its western bank. Raffles Place can be clearly identified by the dense concentration of skyscrapers.

The area commonly called the "CBD" is located within the Downtown Core, one of the constituent planning areas of the Central Area, the country's city-centre. Its densest point is centered around Raffles Place, where most of Singapore's skyscrapers are located. The "CBD" term has also been used at times to refer to the Central Area as a whole.

South Africa's largest cities, namely Cape Town, DurbanJohannesburg, Pretoria, and Port Elizabeth, have CBDs which house the headquarters of many of the country's largest companies, as well as convention centers, and the cities' tallest buildings.

Cape Town is known for having South Africa's most iconic skyline (including the famous Table Mountain) and CBD.[20]

AZCA business district in Madrid on the left, with one of the Puerta de Europa towers in the centre and with the CTBA skyscrapers at the back-right of the picture.

In Barcelona, the 22@ and Granvia l'Hospitalet are the main business districts. Despite the fact that the Catalan capital does not have a reputation for skyscrapers and financial hubs, in the recent years it has attracted several media and technology companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo!. In 2005, the Torre Agbar, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, became the third tallest building in the city with a height of 145 metres. The building soon became a symbol of Barcelona and was going to become a Hyatt hotel. However, the tower is still empty due to administrative problems.[21]

Cities like Bilbao and Valencia are also considered to have important business districts but at a much smaller scale. Bilbao has completely transformed its city centre in the last 20 years, and now holds several main offices of banks like BBVA and Kutxabank as well as the Iberdrola Tower, a 165-metre skyscraper which belongs to Spanish electric company Iberdrola.

The alternative term city centre is used in United Kingdom and Ireland. In British-influenced countries, such as the Commonwealth realms, former British territories, also use many of the same terms, but also have many characteristics of British cities. In the UK, Northern Ireland, Australia and South Africa, the term is often just shortened to "city", as in "going to the city"; it is often also called "town" ("going (in)to town", "going up town", or "going down town"). One exception is in London where "the City" specifically refers to the City of London financial district (one of the two main financial CBDs), rather than to any other part of London.

In the United States, central business districts are often called "downtown" (even if there is no "uptown"). In most cities the downtown area will be home to the financial district, but usually contains entertainment and retail of some kind as well. The downtown areas of many cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, San Diego, New Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Houston, are also home to large sports and convention venues. Historic sections of a central business district may be called "old town", while decaying parts of the centre city are commonly called the "inner city". The term inner city is sometimes used evocatively, applying a negative connotation and referring to peripheral areas blighted during a mass exodus of middle class residents.